“Once the rule is adopted, it’s in their interest to find the cheapest way possible to implement the rule,” he said. “Almost without exception, they have come up with compliance strategies that are far less than the exaggerated estimates they initially developed during the proposed stage.”

Businesses might not be the only ones that exaggerate. A 2010 report from economists at the nonprofit research group Resources for the Future found that EPA and other regulatory agencies tend to overestimate the costs of their regulations. Of a series of rules they examined, 14 overestimated the costs, while the costs wound up exceeding projections for only three rules.

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On the other hand, federal agencies also tend to overestimate the benefits of regulations, according to the 2005 White House report.

The gap between predictions and reality doesn’t always mean the businesses were wrong, saide Holmstead, the former EPA air chief. He said one reason that costs are ultimately lower than predicted is that regulators often alter their proposed rules after hearing industry concerns.

In the past, when industries have complained that proposed rules could shut down companies, EPA has moderated its approach, he said. “Usually the agency doesn’t just say, ‘Well, we’re going to do whatever we want to do.’”

In a recent example, EPA last month significantly altered its final air toxics rule for industrial boilers after coming under fire from industry and lawmakers predicting widespread job losses. The agency’s final rule is projected to cost about $1.8 billion — about half the draft rule’s $3.6 billion price tag.

Industry groups insist that while their track record hasn’t been perfect on estimating regulatory costs, some rules have imposed severe hardships on industries, and they warn that the Obama administration’s policies will be exceptionally burdensome.

“There are cases where the costs are less [than the estimates] without question, and there are plenty of cases too where the costs are more,” said Howard Feldman, director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. He cited the 1997 ozone standard, saying it has taken longer than anticipated for regions to attain it and that more controls were needed than anticipated.

Industry advocates are particularly concerned about the administration’s greenhouse gas regulations. They warn that the rules will deal a tremendous blow to the economy and that EPA has neglected to assess their overall impact on jobs.

Margo Thorning, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Council for Capital Formation, warned Congress last month that the EPA’s climate rules could cause losses of between 476,000 and 1.4 million jobs.

“If I look back on the 40-year landscape, there’s no evidence that the kinds of claims that ... we hear about occur or have occurred,” EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe said at a conference in February. “And in fact, they’ve actually created economic opportunity in the United States.”

In terms of climate change, he asked, “Why will it be different this time?”

In answer to the headlined question: Yes, industry cries wolf on regulations. The evidence compiled over the years cannot be credibly disputed. Businesses are like lazy children: they don't want to do their work properly and they want no one telling them to do it properly. Good government regulations save lives and create jobs and grow the economy. If asked, I would say I nearly always want the cleaner air, water and earth and the jobs created to make the new clean-up technology needed and the man and womanpower required to execute the clean-up operations of waste products more than I want to save polluters' jobs. Keeping our air safely breathable, our water safely drinkable and our earth nontoxic enough we can safely eat what grows from it will create oodles of jobs and jobs one can be proud of. One of our biggest economic threats is the cost of heath care. The last thing we need is an increasingly sick nation due to lax regulation of dangerous polluters.

Mar. 2, 2011 - 7:47 AM ESTEnvironmental wackos have put our country and our piopulation at financial and personal risk. They have caused the price of fuel and food to skyrocket. They in effect hate people.

Ah yes, that's right. Because folks don't want toxic metals in our childrens toys, or random chemicals dumped into the lakes and rivers in this country, or hell even some nice full on smog to black out the skies like it was in the 90's in LA; apparently, this all makes us "hate people". Good to know hoss.

Due to the gas fracking the poisons have now reached the rivers. And the industry did not want to submit a list of what they are using in order to get the gas out of the earth. Poison the air, the land and now the water and yes, we already junked up space.

This is about industry wanting to make as much money as possible. There is no denying that some companies will try and lower their costs even if it means harming the environment or their customers. As this article points out, we have heard this all before.

This article is straight out of alinsky's handbook - paint the opposition as liars and vilify them.

Sure we got rid of CFC's but what we're fighting now is a green zealout EPA and interior department that wants to drive us off a carbon society at huge costs to US taxpayers in a scheme to pay off the UN and the IMF with no real reduction in pollution. This is totally unacceptable to the majority of Americans and obama will pay at the polls in 2012 for his treasonous actions.

Industries have a long track record of warning about the dire consequences of regulations and projecting that the economy will wither and countless jobs will vanish because of efforts to protect public health and safety.

Of course they do.

American Industries will always be willing to induce Cancer in children if they can increase their profits.

Our economy was wrecked by wall st, not the preservation of clean air and water. You aint gonna have much of a business climate in a toxic wasteland. Here's the thing, corporate bosses incurred some tiny costs to meet regulations and didn't want to subtract that from MASSIVE profits and salaries, so they shipped all the manufacturing over sees where they could spend pennies on the dollar having virtual slaves do the work and devastate the environment with no consequences. To blame economic regulations is pretty sinister, anyone who does so probably suffers from corporate stockholm syndrome. I mean think about it, those blaming labor unions and environmental regs are essentially advocating that we should be content to live as a third world nation getting raped by multinational corporations with no form of redress. And that aint how I want to live. Tax the rich, end the wars, and God bless America

This is about industry wanting to make as much money as possible. There is no denying that most companies will try and lower their costs even if it means harming the environment or their customers. Republicans seem all to ready to let these companies do this.

Exactly. Corporations are sitting on record profits - regulations can't hurt that much.

Just think - without all those pesky regulations, we could've had that Bhopal, India plant right here in the good ole USA

From the view on the production floor of America, Jackson, Obama, Waxman and their delusional, bureaucrat toadies, look to be abject fools. Have they failed to notice from their position on the commanding heights, how desperate the economic situation is, for the public and how they have made things worse, in the last two years? Well of course not, they are no more engaged than the ruling class of Egypt, Tunisia, or Libya. To the this crowd, the Republican gain of Nov 2011, never happened and so they will be stunned in 2012 and 2014. California is the case in point, it has went from the economic juggernaut of the world, to something approaching third world status, thanks to politicians like Waxman. Spain and the rest of the old Euro block is another case in point, has a economic entity in now perpetual decline, do to ever more environmental regulations and a suffocating governmental bureaucracy. And just where is this eco-socialist nirvana, that has regulated it self to prosperity? Well to this crowd that would be China. Well Comrade Obama should have the integrity, to tell the America people that China, is his progressive model for the way forward.

Sure we got rid of CFC's but what we're fighting now is a green zealout EPA and interior department that wants to drive us off a carbon society at huge costs to US taxpayers in a scheme to pay off the UN and the IMF with no real reduction in pollution. This is totally unacceptable to the majority of Americans and obama will pay at the polls in 2012 for his treasonous actions.

I can't help but think that the leftists advocating all of this regulation don't have a frickin' clue as to what the true costs of regulation are. And that they also don't work in any manufacturing industry. You people have destroyed millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs, impoverishing entire communities and you just don't care. You really don't. You mouth platitudes, you'll hand out welfare and unemployment checks but by God, if ONE molecule of pollutant escapes a smoke stack, you'll impose a zillion dollar fine and eventually, that factory will move to China.

Get a grip. Haven't you noticed that we have built refineries all over the world but none in the US? No new nuclear power plants for 20 years but many dozens elsewhere? We have shifted manufacturing overseas. Even the NYSE will be moving overseas. EXXON de-domiciled and is no longer a US country and many other companies have taken the same step. The US has the second highest corporate taxes in the world and under Obama has the most hostile environment to business. The current stagnation, the lack of recovery from the recession, is historically very unusual - in all the other recessions (except the Great Depression where FDR's Obama-like policies also produced prolonged stagnation) within 2-3 years the economy was roaring. If you love Obama, you will love the stagnation now and inflation that comes together with the stultifying experience of living in a country that is becoming a prison house for businesses.

are essentially advocating that we should be content to live as a third world nation

what choice do we have, we are becoming a third world nation. No jobs, uneducated and useless population, debt beyond belief. Why do people think that just because we are America, we should just have a higher standard of living then everyone else. If we aren't willing to work for it, we are going to keep it. The libs and eco morons have basically told America that its better that we all sit around and do nothing while the Chinese do our jobs and pollute the earth then for us to work. Better to just keep borrowing money from those who actually work to pay people who don't to sit around all day.

Amen. I recall the "devestating" effect the madatory use of catalytic converters were going to do to the auto industry.This is the single most improvement in clean air in any city. The cost wasn't even noticed and was far out paced by a zillion other bells and whistles over the years.

in pennsylvania we have got these wacko's running around stopping all kinds of business. the dep wanted 67 thousand from a tool and die shop to expand. dig up some cattails in your back yard and if you have a neighbor who doesn't like you you can end up with a huge fine. get rid of the dems and progressives in 2012.

In the early 1970s, I was an environmental columnist for two daily newspapers, both conservative. When the Clean Air Act was passed, we heard all the whining about lost business and job losses. What actually happened was that new industries were born to provide the technologies for clean air. Jobs were created. There were no going-out-of-business sales and we now have much cleaner air. The same was true for the Clean Water Act. If businesses pollute, they must clean up their waste - plain and simple.